Monday, November 10, 2008

The apparel industry consists of companies that produce garments, both cut and sewn and knit to shape. The manufactured dresses may include mens clothing, womens clothing, kids wear and infant wear. The clothing industry is very important for the world economy due to its share in revenue and employment generation. Do you know how the dresses you wear reach you? There is a long supply chain for the Clothing Industry which can be categorized as- raw materials, textile plants, apparel plants, export chains, retail stores, and finally you and me- the customers!

What drives the Garments Industry?Consumer tastes and the comparative manufacturing costs are the two major determinants of demands by the market. Whether a Garment Company will be profitable, also depends upon its operational efficiency and its ability to strike deals with the clothing marketers including clothing wholesale and clothing retail sector. This industry is highly labor intensive and the skilled labor is more so important on whose support even a small garment company can compete effectively with the larger ones.

How the Apparel Industry works?As different skills and equipment are needed to make different types of clothes, the garment manufacturers mostly specialize in manufacturing only one or two types of apparel. There are different types of apparel manufacturers too. The Integrated Manufacturers design and make garments in their own manufacturing plants and market their own clothing brands. The Licensees have their own manufacturing plants but they market their manufactured clothing under license from the other Brand owners. Then there are Contract Manufacturers who make clothings under contracts from independent designers. These designers market their own brands without any role of the manufacturers. All these Apparel Manufacturers find the markets for trading their finished garments after taking the Apparel, Clothing & Garments Industry overview

What the Apparel Manufacturers do?The procedures followed by most of the Apparel manufacturers are more or less similar. First of all, design for the clothing is made. They are then made into sample patterns of fabric or are represented in graphical form with the help of computers. Clothes are cut on the basis of markers made according to the generalized sizing measurement of the population for whom the garments are being made. They are then sewn into finished items by workers in the sewing plants. These finished garments are then pressed, inspected and packaged for delivery. The whole process of apparel making is really very interesting.If the whole description of apparel and garments industry has interested you so much that you want to start apparel manufacturing yourself, then its no surprise to me! After all apparel manufacturing is one of the most sought after businesses today. Starting a Clothing Line Business is definitely a wise decision!